


Popping In Mauve

by rayvanfox, TheOxfordEnglishFangeek (jadinacookie)



Series: Short stories from Cafe Rosetta & Chevalier Ink [3]
Category: The Mundanes (Queer Urban Magic Universe)
Genre: Canon Queer Character, Canon Queer Character of Color, First Meetings, Gen, Meet-Cute, Nonbinary Character, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-17 11:40:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5867887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rayvanfox/pseuds/rayvanfox, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadinacookie/pseuds/TheOxfordEnglishFangeek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rian meets a couple of the Pilsen Pack ducklings and gets some make-up tips.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Popping In Mauve

**Author's Note:**

> This is The Mundanes Queer Urban Magic Universe, a open sandbox where writers are welcome to come and join us. Please come check out our blog to find out more about the rules of the 'verse and guidelines for writing in it, read shorter stories, see faceclaims, and find inspiration: [The Mundanes](http://themundanes.tumblr.com/)

With the overwhelming clarity of hindsight, Rian reasoned that really he had no-one but himself to blame for the situation he was currently in; trying to kill time as he waited for the pharmacist to find the right gauge needles for his T.  Normally he checked as soon as he picked up his prescription that the right needles were with it but he clearly hadn’t the last time, as he’d found out when he opened the box that morning to do his shot.  Needless to say he’d been less than impressed but Ethan had apologised straight away for the mistake when he showed up with it – it had taken Rian ages to find a decent chemist in walking distance of his apartment and he had no desire to have a falling out with one of the few people he’d found who’d never once given him a strange look when paying for nail varnish and lipstick along with his hormones.

There was still a wait to be had though whilst the replacement needles were being found and for all Rian’s more than admirable qualities, patience was not one of them.  Neither of the twins were replying to his texts - hardly surprising given the time of day but still annoying - and the magazine rack had held nothing of interest. So instead he found his way over to the makeup section. The selection was surprisingly varied giving the size of the store and he found his gaze drawn to a range of eyeliners in bright jewel shades he hadn’t seen before.   

Regardless of what Eliot had to say on the matter, Rian was firmly of the opinion that he couldn’t have too many shades of purple at his disposal, and he smiled as his eyes lit on a glittery mauve that looked promising.  Tugging the tester free, he drew a stripe across the back of his hand and held it up to the light to give it a critical look – if it held up under the unflattering glare of fluorescent strip bulbs then it was definitely worth buying. 

His scrutiny was interrupted by a long-fingered hand reaching past his arm and into his line of sight. It was feminine, with bangles on the wrists and fingernails that were a shocking shade of pink, and it was aiming for a bright blue eyeliner right in front of him. Rian stepped to the side to make room and bumped into someone on his other side – a short, petite, young white woman with almost white hair streaked with vibrant jewel colors. She smiled at him even as he apologized for not seeing her.  

“No worries. I was just looking for… oooh.” She gestured to the streak of eyeliner on Rian’s hand with a delighted grin. “That’s gorgeous for you. Well done. Look, Av.“  

Before Rian could respond, the person on his other side peered around him at the speaker, then at his hand. She was thin and fine-boned, of asian descent, with an angular, asymmetrical haircut that flattered her sharp features and long, graceful neck. “Ooh. Not bad. But what goes good with mauve?” 

“Well…” The tiny blonde chick narrowed her eyes critically as she gave Rian a once over. “To compliment his coloring, I’d think something in this area.” She pointed to a section of eyeshadows that were predominantly pale greens and blues.  

“You can’t put green eyeshadow next to mauve eyeliner, Riley, come on.” The asian woman walked around Rian, her heels clicking hard on the linoleum, as she scolded her companion.  

“No. Shit. You’re right. I was thinking mauve lipstick.” Riley grabbed the closest one and held it out to Rian. “Unless you don’t do lipstick? Sorry, we get a little carried away.“  

Her companion - Av? - scoffed. “Don’t apologize, we are giving valuable advice here.” She glared challengingly at Rian, her lips quirked up into a smirk. 

The flurry of conversation, seemingly both to and about him, had a bemused kind of smile tugging at Rian’s lips as his eyes flicked between the two of them.  Neither girl looked familiar, and with how striking they both were he would have _definitely_ remembered meeting them, but he felt the tingling sensation at the back of his neck that meant they had an existing connection.  

Of course he had no way of knowing what the connection might be but that was what conversations were for and Rian had never been the type to shy away from that, especially not when ridiculously attractive people were involved. 

“And who am I to turn down such good advice?” he said, returning the challenging woman’s smirk with an easy grin of his own before his attention flicked to Riley, accepting the proffered lipstick and letting his fingers brush against hers. “In answer to your question, not often but I’ve been known to indulge when the mood takes me. I don’t tend to go this light with it though.” 

“It’ll make your lips pop,” Riley said with a slow smile as her gaze dropped to his mouth. “Not that you need that, necessarily…” 

“Oh my goddess, Rile.” Her companion smacked her friend’s arm lightly. “You’re supposed to be helping me find makeup for Mel and Phee, not picking up randos at the store.” 

The tingle in Rian’s neck got sharper for a moment, and he was going to say something, but the beauties in front of him didn’t leave an opening. Riley gave her friend a look that seemed to be mock-offended, and shot back, “Hey, I can multitask. Besides,  _Avery,_ you’re the one who got me in the zone.” 

“Fine. My fault,” Avery directed her not-so-apologetic apology at both Riley and Rian. “But now you have to come help  _me_ find stuff.” 

Avery attempted to drag Riley away, but she dug her heels in and spoke pointedly. “Not until our friend here has what they need.” She turned her face up to Rian’s and blinked patiently. Her eyelashes were so thick and dark they made her eyes look like stars. 

“Well that’s awful kind of you Riley but I’d hate to be interfering with two ladies clearly on a mission."  Said ladies wanting to interfere with him was an entirely different prospect however and the way Riley was looking up at him certainly wasn’t helping his conviction.  The unimpressed snort Avery let out clearly indicated she wasn’t buying it either. ”‘Sides, I’m not exactly in need either, though I’m definitely getting this. Be good to mix things up a little.“

He grinned a little then, unable to stop himself from adding, "I mean who couldn’t use a little more pop in their life?” Yes he was flirting but given that Riley had started it, he wasn’t about to feel bad about it.  The tingling in his neck was only encouraging him, the sharpness dissipating into a warmth that spread up to his hairline. 

“No one,” Riley said, brightening. She turned to her friend and her voice took on a pleading tone. "Avery, just do the thing already. He’ll look so beautiful.“ 

"He hasn’t bought the makeup yet. I can’t just put it on him right here in the store.” 

Riley gave Avery a death look, then hunted around for testers of the lipstick and eyeshadow she’d suggested. She handed them over to Avery and waved her hand towards Rian’s face. “Please do the thing? She’s really good at it.” That last was directed at Rian in reassuring tones. 

Avery sighed and looked at him flatly. “It’s true. I’ve got a steady hand and a light touch. It’s a thing. But if you don’t want…”

Rian didn’t reply, instead tugging off his glasses and hanging them on the front of his shirt before carefully leaning against the counter behind him. Spreading his legs slightly for balance, and an invitation for someone to step between them, he was now eye level with the two women and still sporting that same grin.

“Lay it on me.”

Avery rolled her eyes so hard Rian was fairly certain it was audible and stepped into the space he had made for her, ignoring Riley clapping her hands in delight beside them.

“No funny stuff you hear me?” Avery said, her expression one that implied she was more than capable of inflicting serious bodily harm with a lipstick and eyeshadow if he did.

He went to reply and she shushed him, hand coming to rest on his jaw and holding it steady as she set to work with the lipstick, her touch as soft as her look had been sharp.

Rian for his part just held his hands up, expression the picture of innocence before utterly ruining the effect by parting his lips without prompting into a soft ‘o’ that was quite frankly a little obscene. 

~~~

Fifteen minutes later, Riley and Avery walked out of the pharmacy with their purchases in bags and giggles on their lips. 

“Oh my goddess, Av! Feel my heart. It’s pounding.” Riley clutched Avery’s hand to her chest to back up her claim. 

“You are a hot mess, baby. Why did you make  _me_ do his makeup? You were the one who wanted to get between his legs.” In response to this, Riley lightly smacked Avery’s arm as they both laughed a bit breathlessly. 

“No one is as good as you and we had to make a fabulous first impression,” Riley admitted. 

Avery preened at the praise, as always. “He  _did_  look really good when I was through with him.” 

“Granted, you had a lot to work with. He looked good before you started,” Riley said with a bit of a swoon in her voice. 

Looking sharply at her friend, Avery couldn’t keep the incredulity out of her voice. “Are you _that_ twitterpated with him, Rile?"  

Riley pressed her chilly hands to her pink cheeks, saying, "I dunno, but he was damned fun to flirt with. He had no shame whatsoever.” 

“He didn’t push his number on either of us, though. I’ll give him that.” Avery’s approving nod spoke volumes. 

“Yeah, hey. Do you have the card he gave us?” Riley reached into the pocket of Avery’s coat, fingers groping. 

Avery pulled the card out of her other pocket and held it under Riley’s nose until she grabbed it. “It’s of a coffee shop. Weird way of getting in touch. Are you just supposed to stop by and hope he’s there? Does he use the place like his office, or something? Does he actually  _work_ there? Who knows? Not us!” Avery wasn’t as annoyed as her voice made her out to be, and Riley just nudged her shoulder good-naturedly as they walked to the bus stop. 

“I thought it was a really chill way of asking for a hangout,” Riley said nonchalantly, as if Avery couldn’t tell how excited she was about the prospect.  

Avery looked down at Riley’s hand as she flipped the card over and read:  _Chevalier Ink._ Rian’s name was listed as proprietor.

Hm. If he really owned a tattoo parlor, that was interesting…

Riley flipped the card back to the side that had the coffee shop info and Avery stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk, grabbing Riley’s arm to make her stop too.  

“Sheesh. What?” Riley’s annoyance bounced immediately into worry-mode when she saw Avery’s appalled face. “What’s wrong, babe?”

“Goddess help us _,_ Rile!” Avery pointed to the logo on the card of a beautiful example of latte art, with the words:  _Cafe Rosetta._

“That’s where Fox works!”


End file.
